newsom, and thank you to mr. elsbernd. we should all acknowledge the leadership of the late john neely and the chief nursing officer who moved the hospital into the 20th century. thank you to the staff of laguna honda hospital who are creating a new care model of community and patient involvement. the hospital has long been recognized as a center of excellence. the new facility further advances recommendation. the design brings a small-town feel insecure community which can integrate the patients and residents into the broader civic life of semblances go. the hospital has an impressive collection of art that will not

only contribute to the healing environment but also provide a new destination for art lovers. the historic passage of comprehensive health care reform by college represents -- by congress strengthens medicare and ensure sustainability for years to come. it improves benefits for seniors and makes prescription drugs more affordable, and it recognizes the needs of those with disabilities by making significant investments in long- term care services. this is a great day not only for the patients and residents of for all san francisco. thank you for this opportunity to extend my deepest gratitude to the hard-working people who have made this new hospital and rehabilitation center possible. please accept my best wishes for a memorable celebration. sincerely, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house. [applause]

>> i want to acknowledge the assemblywoman who could not attend. her good wishes are extended. i also want to say as part of thinking about louise's role -- sell resilience reject sal sorelli mention sharing the campaign with louise and i. you really did it with us. labour has always been our friend in the department of public health. we do great things together. that was an amazing victory. thank you for that. the saddest day that i have ever had was the day john died. it was very hard for me. i had never lost anybody who was actively working for me at the

time. at one time i had to face the tremendous personal sadness that i felt that losing a friend of mine and i also had to recognize that like any leader of an organization and had to help the organization to get over its in the sense of processing its own feelings, staying true to its job while we were all in morning. laguna honda is a vibrant 24- hour seven day a week operation. you could not stop life to mourn for john. we also had to keep laguna honda running. but at the same time so many of us were bereft of having lost to john. and having to deal with that was extremely challenging. i have a picture of john next to my desk. i will always remember him and his commitment. part of what i had to figure out

on that day immediately was what was in charge of laguna right now. that is how things are. it was a sudden death. we were not at all prepared. but even at that moment, someone had to be in charge of laguna honda. you cannot have a hospital running without a license administrator in charge. i chose someone i have tremendous faith and, and also somebody that john had tremendous faith in. and i know that it was always intended. john had intended that succession. but it was not obviously going to be in the way it happened. it was going to be in a number of years. she would have had a chance to mentor into that role. people would have gotten used to her. when he felt we were taking care of he would have moved on.

that was his way. instead, she was suddenly catapulted into this job in a much more difficult circumstance than anyone imagined, at a time when everybody was morning. the building was not yet finished. there were a number of challenges. but she rose to all of them. and what she has in common with john is that she wakes up and sees what is in the best interest of the residence. that is what we do this for. it is on that that every decision should be changed. she keeps that foremost in her mind. she has done a fantastic job. i am sure that in that laguna honda corner of heaven, and john is looking down very proudly at her.

[applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. thank you for spending your saturday afternoon at laguna honda. at the new laguna honda. san francisco has much to be proud of. laguna honda has been providing compassionate care for san francisco hit safety net for over 150 years. we will continue this tradition for the next 150 years to come. second, the new laguna honda, as the most modern rehab and skilled nursing facility in the first certified leed hospital in california, we will deliver on being a model for other facilities around the country and the world in long-term care and rehabilitation care. and most importantly, laguna

honda is a community for healing and wellness. you will see this for yourselves as you speak to our staff. thank you, mayor knew some, -- may newsom, mayor brown, jackie speare, the former president of the health commission when prop. 8 past, the health commission, turner construction, derek miller, the arts commission, the staff of laguna honda, our labor partners, and the entire san francisco community for your support in ensuring laguna honda has a bright future. [applause] i will end with a "from a

resident of laguna honda. thank you to the citizens of san francisco for backing this wonderful dream you had, and thank you to the many residents who actively supported the dream. thank you. [applause] >> appropriately, the person who will have the final word on today's ceremony is our president of our resident counsel, elizabeth cutler. we are so proud you are here and we are looking forward to your comments. >> i have to unfold my papers.

please be patient with me. all of the patients know what i mean. thank you. i want to say is an honor to share this platform with so many accomplished people. i feel thrilled to be among you and to speak to this assembly today. more than that, it is a joy to represent the residents. i am thrilled that you have allowed me to be a voice for some of their feelings and concerns. and i want to tell you a bit about us as residents. we came from all different walks of life in the city. we have had jobs having to do with construction and bus driving, and we have had white collar jobs, and we have been independent artists and writers.

the full spectrum have come to laguna honda. and in our day we were great participants in all of the city life. difficult circumstances, sometimes crushingly difficult, have brought many of us here at last to laguna honda. not at last for some of us. despite all differences, we need the healing that laguna honda is famous for. some people who come will be rehabilitated and will leave sunday. others will need 24-hour care for the rest of their lives, and so they will look forward to spending time in the spending -- in this building for years to come. it is exciting to have a new building. it is even more exciting to receive a new model of care, care that is resident centered,

care that honors each person as an individual instead of a body in a bed. care that involves talking to us, and more important, listening to us, hearing our voices. so many have worked so hard, has you have been told -- as you have been told, to bring the state to pass. and now we have a dazzling new setting to present to you. when you leave today, you will be going home. but laguna honda residents will not be leaving. this is our home. and it is very important to us. we are already here. but please come back and visit us frequently. this wonderful new laguna honda would not exist without you. i just want to add a personal note. my younger sister, emily, was a resident here for many more

years than i have been. she was greatly loved. we lost her recently. i would like to dedicate this speech to her and remembered her, as many of the residents do, with great fondness and affection. thank you all. [applause] >> i would like to invite you all nowi that good enough? this is a participatory ribbon cutting. it requires nothing more complicated than this. i will ask you to count down,

not up. upon conclusion, we will applaud the great works of turner construction, the dedicated men and women who are still toiling inside to get this project completed, which begs the question when will the residents be moving in that? there is an easy answer -- soon. [laughter] [crowd chants a countdown] [applause] go ahead in an orderly manner.

>> thank you so much.

i am a are newsom's -- i am mayor newsom's education adviser. it is an interesting seat at an interesting time. it is my pleasure to do these events. it is a fantastic moment for so many of our principals and teachers. it gives us an opportunity to thank them for all they do for our children, our community, and our parents. it is a wonderful thing. we were sitting around and wondering why we never did this, so we are really glad this is the fourth year doing our teacher of the month and our third year doing our teacher of the year. i wanted to thank a few folks really quickly. we have had some fantastic donations to all of our teachers and our principles. they have no idea what we are getting -- what they are getting today. i am excited to be able to rattle off the price list.

we have so many prizes to give. i want to thank linda from comcast and tony from chase. they have been our monetary sponsors. we are really thankful to them for supporting this endeavor we have done. we have so many other sponsors, which are all on the back of your programs and displayed. i saw sammy in the back. if you'd donated -- if you donated to this cause, would you please raise your hand or stand up for us so we can thank you from the bottom of our hearts? [applause] we do this program in partnership with several folks. the united educators of san francisco, the united administrators of san francisco, the san francisco school alliance, and the san

francisco ed fund. ed fund has been our fiscal sponsor. i do not know if terry richardson is here from the school alliance. we want to thank her as well. i wanted to start by introducing jim, who has been the president of united administrators of san francisco. he has been instrumental in helping us pull this off every year. [applause] >> good afternoon. 162 years ago, the first school opened its doors in san francisco. ever since then, we have had wonderful teachers and great administrators. this year is no exception. over the next hour or so, we are going to hear stories about all

these wonderful people sitting up here. i would just like to add my congratulations to all of them on behalf of the 162 members of the united administrators of san francisco. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, jim. another partner of ours is united educators of sentences go. i want to welcome mr. dennis kelly, the president. [applause] >> thank you all for being here. it is a great honor and a great privilege to be able to recognize the work that all of these good people have done. some of these -- even the administrators. we have known to the since she was a tiny teacher. it is good to see her pass through and come to this point. it is a wonderful time to be able to celebrate the great work

these teachers have done and these principles have done, and know it is emblematic of the work everyone else is doing. it was just 162 years ago. jim and i are the only ones in the room who remember it. [laughter] there were seven teachers, seven schools, and seven school board members in san francisco. we have come a long way. james was one of those first people. it is a name we have kept in the district ever since. thank you very much for coming. congratulations to all of you. just think how much longer this could all go on. thank you. [applause] >> i found my notes. now you are in trouble. i want to acknowledge my colleagues, such as norman yi. thank you for joining us. i also saw mark sanchez, a former school board member and

now a principal at horace middle school. where did you go? thank you. we have been under the amazing leadership of a superintendent who has partnered with the city in so many ways that it has been extremely magical to be able to do the things we have done. please join me in welcoming our superintendent of schools, mr. carlos garcia. [applause] >> you know, one of the highlights for me as a superintendent and as a teacher who happens to be the superintendent is that when we go through graduation and watch our young people get a diploma and have -- the call at a commencement ceremony. really, their lives are just guarding that day. i kind of feel like that when we get a chance to recognize our rock stars of our school district, the real stars.

american idol has nothing on any of you. you really have talent. when you look at the things these folks do in their classrooms -- in our strategic plan, we talked a lot about joyful learners. what you see in front of you are people who have figured out how to make learning so exciting that it is joyful and that kids kind of do not even recognize that they are being taught, that they are actually learning, because it is fun and exciting and new for them. that is the caliber of teachers and principals we have up here. some of these principles, as you know -- if you do not have a great principle, sometimes it is just going to work. it is not fun. these people up here make their schools a fun place to go, where teachers, parents, students, and everybody comes together and actually enjoys being there with the same common mission of making all kids successful. we are blessed to today to be able to acknowledge the type of

caliber of teacher that is here in san francisco. when you look at our test scores -- eight years in a row, the highest performing urban district in california. these are the people who make that happen. on behalf of our district, thank you. [applause] >> thank you, carlos. i want to share with everyone what our awardees will be receiving. we are overwhelmed by the the nation's everybody gave. everybody will get symphony tickets. you will also get academy of science tickets. you also get aquarium of the bay tickets. you get a free pair of jeans from the gap. you will get a one country tour for two with gray line sightseeing, worth 200 callers -- $200. our principles will receive --

our principals will receive $700 from the mayor's office and $100 gift certificate from genevieve hotels. you'll get two tickets to the whale tour. you'll get two tickets to the rocket boat high-speed ride in the san francisco bay. teachers will get $500 from the mayor's office. [applause] i know there is a little bit of a discrepancy from what the principals are receding and the teachers are receiving. the teachers are also getting tickets from virgin airlines wherever they fly in the united states. [applause] so this is a little game that we play. the mayor will come up. he is going to give you each

your bag of goodies. we also have from tiffany's a beautiful crystal apple that is engraved. everybody that came into my office today saw the tip of the bag and instantly knew what it was. the tiffany symbol is a comic. you may not ever get a crystal tiffany anything. we have a beautiful award for you. in addition to that, what we do is the principals will get their awards and we have four extra prizes for each of you. they are all very different. there will either be for clubbable tickets to the giants game, and overnight stay and dinner, an overnight stay and breakfast, or an ipad. when you are called up, you will receive your bag from the mayor and the superintendent. i will have for envelopes. you choose one, ok?

the teachers -- we have a variety of other goodies which include a bike rental, muir woods, beach blanket babylon, tickets to the opera -- we had so many gifts. a special thank-you to the world community benefit district and pier 39. they solicited for us and got a lot of wonderful things. without further ado, the awards are named after somebody who has really care about public education, somebody who has stepped up to the plate, who has made public education a priority and makes it easy for me to work for him. i want to introduce our mayor of san francisco, mayor gavin newsom. [applause] >> thank you, hydra. the guests get bigger and bigger every year, and more exciting. remember, last year we did this

as kind of a pick and choose. some folks were left very happy. some were left wanting. that was not lost on us. we tried to have a stronger base line of gifts this year, which is appropriate because you deserve them. we are very grateful. that is the spirit that brings us together -- gratitude, the spirit that defines excellence. the work that you do continues l beyond your tenure and stewardship. you have an impact that endures, impact that becomes indelible, that manifest not only through the course of someone's educational experience but well beyond in the course of their lives. like anything, the narrative of our lives is a narrative of impact, an impact in other people's lives, and it continues next-generation for kids that are here with us, kids

that will be joining us in years to come. the impact is extraordinary and why i'm so pleased that you are here, why your colleagues are here, your friends and family are here, and that is why i'm so pleased that a number of years ago people came into my office and said it was about time we say thank you in a formal way. the country has been doing it for years. it goes back president to president to president. the governor's office has been doing it years and years. here in san francisco, we realize up until 2006, the city never formally said thank you to our teachers, and then, we realize this and as we said thank you to our teachers, the next year, we said, what about the principles? we quickly rectified that in

2007. the challenge is that gets more challenging each and every year that we get so many good candidates that it gets harder and harder to make the final decision. what has happened in the past is that it has been made much easier. they give me 14, and i have just got to pick 10, so there's only four that i feel really guilty about. this year, we had two high school principals. my point is they are starting to pass the buck a little bit, putting too much pressure on me because they do not want to make the tough choice because there are so many worthy and worthwhile candidates.